Modi added that his government is developing five places associated with Ambedkar. (AP)

Hours after the Congress released its manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched a fresh round of salvo accusing the party of neglecting Bhim Rao Ambedkar. Addressing a rally in Jamui of Bihar, the prime minister said that governance goes into reverse gear when the grand old party and its allies are in power.

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“The Congress did everything possible to have Babasaheb defeated. It conspired to have his memory erased from the public mind. The ‘family’ remembered honouring its own members with Bharat Ratna but forgot Ambedkar,” the prime minister said. “Governance goes into reverse gear when the Congress and its allies are in power. Terrorism, prices, violence, corruption, black money rise when Congress is in power; the country’s prosperity, its credibility, the morale of the armed forces, respect for honesty decline,” Modi added.

The prime minister was campaigning for Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan, son of Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who is contesting the election from the Jamui. Promising that the party will continue the reservation for minorities and backwards after coming to power, Modi said, “Nobody can even touch reservations for the backward classes. We introduced 10 per cent quota for the economically backward people among the unreserved category…we did it without causing strife in society.”

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The PM once again mocked mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) of opposition parties as “mahamilavat” (highly adulterated). “They appear more like spokespersons for Pakistan than political parties representing India,” the PM said launching a scathing attack at the rivals for their comments post-Pulwama terror attack.

In a veiled attack on parties like Lalu Prasad’s RJD, Modi said that those who always swore by the name of JP (Jayaprakash Narayan) are now sitting in the lap of the Congress. “You know what depths Bihar had sunken into under the RJDs rule. The team of Nitish Kumar and Sushil Kumar Modi had made great efforts to pull Bihar out of the deep rut,” Modi told the crowd in the area.